In the church circles that I frequent, “gospel” is a code word. When someone refers to a “gospel sermon” or a “gospel service” it is understood that the purpose of the sermon or meeting is to get people “wet” i.e., baptized or saved. In other words, as Scot McKnight puts it in the second chapter of The King Jesus Gospel, when we say “gospel” we really mean “salvation.”
The problem, according to McKnight, is that “gospel” and “salvation” actually have very different meanings and cannot be used interchangeably. But our confused terminology has produced what McKnight calls a “salvation culture” where the emphasis is on getting people “saved” (the decision) to the neglect of discipleship. This makes us “soterians” (from the Greek term for “saved”) and “salvationists.”
He contends that we need to go back to the Bible and discover what he calls the “gospel culture”which embraces the “salvation culture” but also calls the decided to become disciples.
- What do you think about McKnight’s accusation that we are “soterians”?
- Do you think that emphasizing discipleship weakens the truth that salvation is by grace and faith?
Related Posts
King Jesus Gospel — Introduction
King Jesus Gospel — The Big Question
